Bridge city punch



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2;

G. GUILD.

SHEARING MACHINE.

' No. 569,281. Patented Oct. 13, 1896;

Q IIII-IIII mu (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3. G. GUILD.

SHBARING MAGHINE. No. 569,281. Patented 001;. 13, 1896.

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('No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

G. GUILD.

SHEARING MACHINE.

No. 569,281; Patented Oct. 13,1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE GUILD, OF CAMBRIDGE CITY, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO THE CAM- BRIDGE CITY PUNCH, SHEAR, AND ROLL COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

SHEARlNG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 569,281, dated October 13, 1896.

Application filed July 8, 1895. Serial No. 555,245. (No model.)

To (l/ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be itknown that I, GEORGE GUILD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cambridge City, in the county of IVayne and State of Indiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in Shearing-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in steam shearing-machines; and it consists in an arrangement of mechanism and duplex fluid-actuated cylinders for operating the shearing knife-head, and will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

The object of my invention is to provide means whereby uniform and equal powers may be simultaneously applied at the opposite ends of the knife-head to cause it to descend with a regular steady movement; also, to provide suitable means whereby the knifehead-operatin g cylinders will be automatically operated to recede or ascend from its work when either the full extent or any fraction of the stroke or out has been completed. I attain these objects by means of the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which similar numbers of reference designate like parts throughout the several views.

Figure l is a front elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a side elevational view. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view of the fluid-actuated cylinder and its starting-valve. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the knife-head lever and the thrust-block of the knife-head. Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of the cross-head and its lever-connecting block. Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view of the cross-head, showing the knuckle-joint bearing of the lever-block; and Fig. 8 is abroken detail sectional view of the knives.

The mainframe of the machine is composed of the bed-plate 1, the end frames 2, both of which are alike and are mounted and secured on said bed-plate, and the table 3, secured at its ends to the inner sides of the said housings or end frames 2. In the top projecting portions of the housings 2 are formed the vertical guideways 4, wherein the knife-head 5 is adapted to reciprocate, and on the top ends of these ways are secured the caps 6,

which are provided for the purpose of firmly holding the free ends of the ways and to prevent them springing while. the said knifehead is descending and cutting the metal undergoing the cutting operation.

On the top rear ends of the ways f are formed the bearings '7, wherein the fulcrum shaft 8 of the knife-head levers 9 is journaled. The levers 9 are neatly fitted on the square ends of the said shaft 8, which project from the outer sides of the bearings 7, and said levers are held in position thereon by the retaining-washers 10 and its retaining-bolt 10. The shorter arms or power-transmitting ends of the levers are rounded to form joint-bearings or journal ends 11, which are adapted to accurately fit and work in the top bearing ends of the thrust-blocks 12. The bottom ends of the thrust-blocks 12 are similarly formed and accurately fit the journals ordowels 13, formed integral on the bottom outer ends of the knife-head 5.

The outer knife-head-oonnecting rods are composed of the top and bottom stub ends 14, which are threaded at their ends with right and left hand threads and are adapted to reoeive the turnbuckle 15, by which the length of the connecting-rod is adjusted and the lost motion between the bearing ends of the thrustblock is taken up.

The cap-bolts 16 pass through the eyes of the stubs 14, wherein they accurately fit to form an end journal-bearing and are firmly screwed into the center of the rounded ends of the levers 9 and the ends of the dowels 13 of the knife-head.

It will be observed that the thrust-block 12 is subjected to a compressive strain, which is the force applied to the knife-head 5 to force it downward to cut the material, while the connecting-rod, composed of the stub ends 14 and the connecting-turnbuckle 15, is only subjected to a tensile stress due to the force required to elevate or return the knife-head 5 to its upper position. It will also be readily seen that with such an arrangement of the connecting-rods all lost motion or play due to wear of the thrust-block bearings is readily taken up by means of the turnbuckle 15, and all jar and uneven working of the reciprocating parts prevented.

The rear or power ends 17 of the levers 9 are removable, being securely bolted to the rear ends of the forward portions of the levers 9, and are bent or inclined upwardly and rearwardly and terminate in the reduced parallel ends 18, having the side bearing-ribs 19. The blocks 20 are recessed or slotted to accurately receive the end portions of the levers, wherein they work and by which they are held.

The cross-head block 20 is provided with the lower joint-bearing 21, which is adapted to accurately fit and to work in the recesses formed in the top portion of the cross-heads 22 and between the lugs 23, formed integral on said cross-heads. The joint-bearings 22 and the lugs 23 are drilled to receive the retaining-pin 24 by which these parts are held in contact during the downward stroke of the levers, that is, during the upward movement of the knife-head 5.

The cross-head 22 is adapted to slide on the guide-rods 25, which latter are secured at their bottom ends to the top ends of the cylinders 26 and have their top ends firmly tied or braced by their retaining-caps 27, which are drilled to receive and neatly fit on the reduced ends of said rods, whereon they are firmly held by suitable securing-nuts.

The fluid actuated cylinders 26, one of which is single acting, are accurately fitted on and firmly bolted at their bottom ends to the rearwardly-proj ectin g portions of the bedplate 1 to form steam-tight joints, and are provided with the pistons 28, having the piston-rods 20, which are firmly secured at their top ends to the cross-heads 22.

A valve-chest 30 is fitted to one of the cylinders 26, (see Fig. 4,) and in this is accurately fitted the balanced valve 31, which is hollow and cylindrical and is adapted to slide longitudinally in said chest to alternately open and close the ports 32 and 33. The valve 31 is operated to be moved manually by means of the treadle-lever 34, which is caused to contact with the valve-lever 35, on the opposite end of which is connected the valve rod or stem 36, and by the downward movement of which the valve 31 is moved to open the port 32 to andfor the admission of the fluid under pressure to move the piston of said cylinder to operate said knife-head 5.

The pipe 37 connects the port 33 with the top end portion of the cylinder 26, and the pipe 38 connects the bottom end portions of bothv the cylinders 26 and through which the actuating fluid is admitted from the first or main cylinder to the single-acting cylinder. The actuating fluid is admitted into the steam-chest around the valve 31 by means of the supply-pipe 41, and is exhausted from the said chest through the exhaust-pipe 40 into the atmosphere, passing through the hollow valve 31 when being exhausted from the lower end of the cylinder.

The machine is constructed to automatically operate to reverse the movement of or return the knife-head 5 when it has completed its stroke, and to accomplish this I provide the rod 42, connecced at its lower end to the valve-lever 35 at a point between the point of connection of the valve-rod and the fulcrum of said lever, said rod extending upwardly through the eye or lug 43, which is formed integral onthe side of the end portion 17 of the lever 9, and on this projecting end is adjustably secured the trip-collar 44, which is removably and adjustably secured on said rod by a suitable set or binding screw 45. Thus as the end 18 of the lever 9 ascends the eye 43 contacts with the tripcollar 44 and carries the rod 42 upwardly to operate the lever 35 to move said valve 31 upwardly an d cause the reverse movement of the piston 28 and the parts connected therewith and deriving their motion therefrom.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The material to be sheared or trimmed is placed on the supporting-table 3 in proper position to be cut by the knife, and the foot of the operator is placed on the treadle-lever 34 to cause the rear ends of the latter to contact and to move the lever 35 to cause the valve 31 to descend to open the port 32 to the actuating fluid which enters into the bottom end of the cylinder 26, thence into and through the connecting-pipe of said cylinders into the opposite cylinder 26 to operate the pistons 28 to move upwardly and to cause the knife-head to descend. Immediately the pistons 28 have ascended the full extent of their stroke or till the eye 43 contacts with the collar 44 the valve-lever 35 is moved by means of said trip-rod 42 to move the start-- ing-valve 31 into its top position and open the port 32 to exhaust and the port 33 to the pressure of the actuating-fluid, which immediately operates to reverse the movement of the pistons 28 and the parts connected therewith, and continues to move till the said pistons have arrived at the end of their strokes or downward movement, at which positions they remain at rest till the valve has been again moved to repeat the same movement and to operate on a second piece of material.

It will be observed, as previously explained, that a starting-valve 31 is used in connection with only one of the pair of cylinders 26, the opposite cylinder being connected by a connecting-pipe 38, by which steam or other actuatin g fluid is admitted from the bottom end of the one cylinder 28 to its opposite mate, that is, from the primary cylinder to the secondary cylinder, by which arrangement both the cylinders 28 are entirely under the 0011- trol of the one valve andeasily manipulated by the operator. Both the cylinders being made from one pattern for the sake of economy and interchangeability and having similar port-openings, which must be closed to prevent the escape of theactuating fluid, for this purpose I provide the cover-plate 46, which is securely bolted to the face of the valveless cylinder 26. It is found in practice,

however, best to attach the valve to the leading end of the knife-head 3 or that end which enters or on ts the material first, for the reason that the very slight difference in the starting of the pistons 28, due to the friction of the actuating fluid passing from one cylinder to its opposite or secondary cylinder through the connecting-pipe 38, which causes the piston of the primary cylinder 28 to act slightly in advance of the secondary-cylinder piston, and should be placed on that cylinder on that side of the machine where the leading end of the knife is located, that is, the end or edge of the knife that first operates to cut the material.

Having thus fully described the nature and operation of this my invention, what I claim as new and useful, and desire to coverby Letters Patent of the United States therefor, is-

1. In a fluid-actuated shearing-1nachine,the combination with a descending knife-head, and a supporting-frame, of vertically-disposed cylinders having fluid-actuated pistons provided with verticallyprojecting pistonrods, cross-heads on said rods, suitable guiderods whereon said cross-heads slide, knifehead levers secured on a common rocking shaft, means for connecting the rear ends of said levers to said cross-heads and the forward ends to said knife-head, a starting-valve adapted to simultaneously admit the actuating fluid into the bottom ends of said cylinders, a treadle-lever, a valve-lever connected at one end to said treadle-lever and at its opposite end to said valve, a trip-lug on the side of said knife-head lever, a trip-rod connected at its bottom end to said valve-lever and extending vertically through said trip-lug eye, and a trip-collar adjustably secured on said rod and adapted to be engaged by said lug to reverse said valve, all substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a shearing-machine, the combination with a rocking lever, of a lever-block slotted to receive the end of said lever, alower journal formed on said block and having its axis at right angles with said lever, a reciprocating cross-head having an upper recessed concave bearing adapted to receive the bearing of said block, retaining-lugs formed integral on said cross-head at the ends of said recessed bearing, and a retaining-pin passing through said lugs and the axis of said block-bearing substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a shearing-machine, the combination with a cylinder and the piston-rod thereof, of a rocking lever having guide-strips thereon, and a lever-block rocking on said piston-rod, slotted to receive therein both the lever and its guide-strips, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE GUILD.

Witnesses:

THos. J. NEWKIRK, W. F. MEDsKER. 

